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The beta version of China's first space-based computing marketplace, the "Space Computing Trading Platform," was launched on Tuesday by the Beijing Space Computing Innovation Center, marking a new step toward the commercialization of the country's emerging space computing industry.

Space-based computing refers to an emerging computing paradigm that deploys data processing, storage, intelligent analysis and decision-making capabilities on orbital platforms, such as satellites and space stations.

The trading platform for space-based computing is designed to connect suppliers and users across the space-based computing value chain, bringing together resources such as space computing capacity, space datasets, artificial intelligence (AI) models and token-based services, according to a press release the innovation center sent to the Global Times on Wednesday. 

It aims to provide an online venue for product displays, demand matching and business negotiations, helping improve resource circulation and reduce coordination costs across the sector, according to the innovation center.

At the initial trial operations stage, the first group of participating organizations includes MinoSpace Technology, the Spacety Research Institute, AIRSAT Technology Group, Xiopm SPACE, Spark-X, Starlink Enterprise Limited, MemBodied, Sun Yat-sen University and other enterprises and universities. The participants span satellite manufacturing, commercial space, research institutes and higher education, sketching an early collaboration map for the space-based computing industrial chain.

For companies and research teams seeking space computing, datasets, AI models or token services, the process has often involved separately searching for satellite, data and algorithm providers. The new platform allows users to browse, filter and compare capabilities by resource category, submit procurement or cooperation requests, and then continue discussions with providers on specific needs and service terms, according to the innovation center.

The Beijing Space Computing Innovation Center was established in June during the 2026 Space Computing Industry Conference. It focuses on areas including space-based AI chips, space energy and thermal management, constellations and spacecraft, integrated space-air computing networks and space computing. 

The release of the trading platform beta just four months later suggests a broader effort to extend the center's work from technology development into industry services, according to industry observers.

Space computing is increasingly viewed as a new frontier in global technological competition and is moving from technical validation toward large-scale deployment. By presenting distributed space-based computing resources in a more market-oriented format, the platform seeks to transform technical capability into tradable assets, Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Zhongguancun Modern Information Consumer Application Industry Technology Alliance, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Xiang said that the platform offers a window into China's shift from space-based computing technology competition toward commercialization. "When computing power can be browsed, compared and purchased like a product, the industry's commercialization process may be said to have taken a meaningful first step," he noted.

According to a report cited by the Xinhua News Agency, the value of the global in-orbit data center market could reach $3.9 billion by 2035, with a compound annual growth rate of 67.4 percent. 

As more industry partners join, the platform is expected to continue improving resource presentation, demand collection and matchmaking functions, with the goal of building a trusted and convenient ecosystem that covers the full lifecycle of space-based computing transactions.